Mr. Jim Walsh was kind enough to share for the website his experience as an extra on one of the Outsiders episodes:
"I was an extra in The Outsiders' eposide, 'Carnival.'
My brother and I were touring the Universal Studios theme
park when a guy in a golf cart pulled up and asked if we would like to be in a TV show shooting that day in one of the back
studios. We said, 'Sure!'
He drove us over to the soundstage where we signed waivers
and were fitted for period clothing (early '60s). We were to be spectators at a boxing match - which was the climactic
scene of 'Carnival.' We were led to the set and given instructions:
1) Don't look at the camera,
2) don't bother the actors,
3) don't squint,
4) look excited,
5) don't be distracting,
6) once seated in place, don't stand up.
We sat in bleachers next to a boxing ring and began cheering
for a fight which wasn't really there. The audio tech recorded some cheers, then some boos and then some misc. crowd
mumblings. Then the cameras rolled in and they began shooting the actors who were in the stands with us and the other
actors who were in the boxing ring.
Shooting scenes can be summed up as momentary bursts of great
enthusiasm and excitement followed by long stretches of absolutely nothing to do. Jay and another actor (Boyd?) were
chasing each other around and throwing hay to kill time between shots. Jay's handler sat him down and reminded him that
his future fans were in the room and he should try tomake a good impression. He did.
In the end, I violated rule #2, 5, and 6 (above) which is
why I'm in the final cut! Later that year we had a great time watching the episode and seeing ourselves on national
TV cheering for a boxing match that didn't exist, wearing old clothing we didn't own and trying to act without the benefit
of having lines.
It took a few hours to complete 3-4 minutes of shooting, but
we got paid. One bag of leftover carnival popcorn . . . which was delicious.
I'd love to find that episode on DVD.
Jim Walsh"
